Harvard plate: here are the proportions of a healthy plate

Few educational institutions have such authority in the world as Harvard. If you ask any ordinary citizen, this is sure to be one of the first universities that comes to mind. The brightest minds in the world they left, or so gossip says. From Mark Zuckerberg to Bill Gates, through Barack Obama, these prominent celebrities in their fields have all passed through the prestigious Harvard University.

This prestige has also been extrapolated over the years to the field of nutrition, despite the complexity of this area of ​​expertise. However, the Harvard School of Public Health was able to masterfully summarize the criteria we must follow to eat healthy in a chart known as the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate.

The truth is that there is little fantasy in the titlebut it’s very descriptive. Harvard doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to naming, they go to nougat. Well, in this case, broccoli, which is healthier.

How the Harvard plate works

This visual plate-shaped chart is designed to be a key tool in nutrition education for both children and adults. This does not mean that we must necessarily distribute all our meals like this, in the form of a plate. But it does serve as an approximation to know perfect distribution of different healthy food groups in our diet. Luckily, the Harvard Healthy Eating Chart does not contain some of the confusing elements that other outdated and outdated charts such as the famous food pyramids include.

Harvard Plate focuses on what really matters: includes only healthy food what should be promoted from a public health perspective. Other unhealthy items such as alcoholic beverages, soft drinks or sweets are excluded from this recommendation. Because yes, we can occasionally take these foods, but that doesn’t mean they should be included in a public health-focused schedule. Otherwise, we risk minimizing its danger and normalizing the consumption of foods that should be kept as far away from our diet as possible.

On the other hand, the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate recommends healthy fat intake such as olive oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil. This latter fat is also known as rapeseed or rapeseed oil, although it is less common. This is logical, because rapeseed oil has a very bad reputation in Spain.

The reason was a terrible massive food poisoning that happened in the 80s from the use of falsified rapeseed oil: a powerful toxic substance for health. This dramatic event forever tarnished the name of rapeseed oil, causing a certain stigma and fear in the population just by hearing its name. But, as Matthias Prats would say: let me insist. Rapeseed oil is a completely safe and healthy fat, so feel free to use it in your regular diet: its nutritional composition is 65% monounsaturated fatty acids, which is very close to olive oil.

Half of the plate should be vegetables

One of the best perspectives the Harvard Plate gives us has to do with vegetable consumption, as it allows us to understand the importance of this food group for our health. Vegetables should take up half of our platetrying to vary between different vegetables, fruits and vegetables: the more different types and colors we consume, the better.

Be careful with potatoes: we should not include them in this group. These tubers are high in carbohydrates and energy and have a different nutritional profile than other vegetables, so they should be considered separately. Do not take tyrria with potatoes either.: They are not demon food, but they should be consumed according to our physical activity level. In addition, within the group of vegetables, greens and vegetables are distinguished: they should occupy approximately 35% of the plate. On the other hand, fruits make up 15% of our total consumption.

Whole grains and healthy protein

The other half of the Harvard plate is divided between two items of great nutritional interest: whole grains and healthy protein sources. 25% are whole grains. That is, foods made from whole grain cereals: wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, and brown rice. It is recommended to limit foods made from refined grains such as rice and white bread.

On the other hand, in the remaining 25% of the Harvard table, we find healthy sources of protein: fish, poultry (chicken, turkey), legumes (lentils, peanuts, chickpeas, soy or beans) and nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews). ).). It is recommended to avoid red and processed meats such as cold cuts and sausages. As for dairy products, there are no specific recommendations for consumption. We are told that let’s limit milk, cheese and yogurt to 1-2 servings a dayso as not to crowd out other useful products already mentioned on the chart.

For drinks, Harvard Plate recommends drinking water, tea or coffee with little or no sugar. It is also recommended to limit your intake of fruit juices to a small glass per day due to their free sugar content. Finally, let’s not forget about physical activity. To wrap up other healthy eating habits, the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate leaves us with a motivating message in true Mr. Wonderful style: stay active! So now you know: listen to the Harvard School of Public Health. They know more than you and me from here to Lima.